Wednesday, March 31, 2010

...eagerly awaited the end of my work day. I'm now off until Saturday when I'm going in for three hours in the evening and then I'm off Sunday and Monday too. The break is going to feel lovely.

...thought of my Sweetheart with growing impatience. He's coming in from Vancouver tonight, he's been there for a week with one of his best friends at a conference and then on a brief vacation. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't very good for them, but I hope they had a good time anyhow.

...often daydreamed thinking of the different ways my Sweetheart and I could spend time together this weekend since they're announcing such lovely weather here. I'd love to go for a walk in Mount Royal Park with him and sprawl out on the grass there. We haven't been for a walk in the park since he moved to Toronto and even for months before that and I'm longing to go back there with him.

...am tired and am looking forward to heading to bed after CSI New York. Because you know, even though they're showing a rerun, I still have to watch it :o)

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

...called my mom to see how she was doing because she had to bring a rescue dog that she had decided to keep back to a shelter. The dog in question was a seven year-old female German Shepherd who was very sweet, but my mom 's own female German Shepherd ended up not being able to get along with her and fights were beginning to break out between them. The poor dog has been to so many homes that she had an absolute horror of being left alone. It's heartbreaking that she couldn't keep her, but she's a very sweet dog so we're hoping she'll find another home. Right now it's just heartbreaking to think of her by herself in a cage back in the kennel.

...giggled when my mom told me that Griffin, the fine looking fellow in the above photo, stole the steak she had made herself for lunch while she was on the phone with me with her back turned and ate it whole, even though she was very upset about it. I stopped giggling and apologized and then promptly broke into fits of giggles in the middle of my office upon hanging up the phone. Sorry mom, but when it's not your lunch being stolen, it's the sort of story that's good for a laugh :oJ

...had a very quiet day at work, which is good because I was having a hormone induced day of feeling slightly under the weather. Yup, PMS is crappy, but it's only about three days out of the month so I can deal with it...most of the time.

...found out that we won't be singing Morten Lauridsen's Ave Maria at my concert in June, but his O Magnum Mysterium which is just as lovely I find :o) You can go and listen to it here

Monday, March 29, 2010

...was able to add the image I wanted to post yesterday. I thought it was thoroughly appropriate for yesterday's post since I was talking about saving dear Brother André's boots and all. I'm sure he was very pleased with our efforts to save his clothing since he was known for caring for his own clothes and therefore keeping them for a very long time. He didn't send his things off to the nuns to be cleaned and mended because as his ability to help people through his prayers to St-Joseph became more widely known, the dear sisters began cutting little pieces out of his cassocks to keep as relics every time he sent them to be tended to. Nothing like having your clothes come back from the cleaners looking like they've been attacked by starving moths to make you want to care for them yourself!

...wrote to my uncle to wish his a happy birthday and initiated a lengthy exchange of e-mails.

...found out that one of my colleagues died suddenly over the weekend. He worked down in the mail and was also in charge of managing out huge stock of envelopes, paper and leaflets of every description. He was very quiet, but very kind, gently and always so wonderful about bringing us things as soon as we called for them. I have been working at the Oratory for nearly eight years now and knew very little about him. I didn't even know that he had been suffering from AIDS for about twenty years. This is a testament to how assiduously he must have been following his treatment because he always looked perfectly healthy. His weight was fine, his cheeks were rosy, he seemed just as healthy as the rest of us. I think very few people actually knew he was sick. It therefore came as quite a shock to a lot of us that he had passed away and what's sadder still is that we found out when the police called the personnel secretary just before lunch, which means that he may not have had any family since if he did, they certainly would have notified us. No one knows what happened to him and we may never know. All we can hope is that he died peacefully in his sleep and that he didn't have any regrets, that he didn't leave anything unaccomplished, because he wasn't very old. He was only in his fifties, he may even have been younger than my father. It's strange, everyone always says that they would like to die in their sleep and I must admit it does seem the best way to go...but it frightens me also. What's to stop it from happening to any of us? It almost makes me afraid to go to sleep, because what if my number's up? I still have so much left to do and what if he felt that he did too?

...saved Brother Andre's boots from destruction by calling in a major leak in the museum. I called security, then the museum director, then security called another director who came in and shut off the water to that sector, then he called the plumber and the carpenter to come fix the leak and get brother Andre's cassoc, hat and boots out of the affected display case. Quite the operation, but it was pretty much done by the time I left at 9:30.

...walked home in the rain, but it was only light rain without wind and it smelled like Spring so I liked it :o)

...saw lots of adorable children during the masses, one of whom became attached to me, she was incredibly sweet :o)

Saturday, March 27, 2010

...went out to lunch with my mother and my brother for my mom's birthday. Unfortunately she had a bit of a bug so didn't eat much, but she loved the presents we got her and we had a nice time together.

...ate absolutely everything on my plate, which is very rare for me at the restaurant.

...was dropped off at work by my brother.

...was the official boss for the first time ever. It felt kinda weird, but went well.

...love the ambiance of the Palm Sunday mass. I'm gonna know the entire ceremony by heart by the time I leave work tomorrow though, seeing the same ceremony four times in 24 hours will do that.

...had sushi for dinner. I wasn't very hungry after stuffing my face at lunch, so it was the best solution :o)

As you can see, this week's Camera Critters are monkeys. These fellas live at the Toronto Zoo, but monkeys being monkeys, they wouldn't turn around and look at all of us pointing our cameras at them. They were way too busy playing together and swinging around on the jungle gym. Hey, at least none of them tried to steal our cameras!

Have a great weekend and be sure to go check out all the other Camera Critters that can be found here

Friday, March 26, 2010

...had the day off since I'm working tomorrow night and Sunday night. I'm then going to work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and will be off Thursday and Friday, am going in for three hours next Saturday night and am going to be off Sunday and Monday. Yup, Holy Week it is!

...spent the day cleaning and doing laundry, with a visit from my friend 'V' thrown in for good measure.

...was happy to see the carpenter. I finally have a door frame around my front door and he also started the finishing touches on my shower, but for now I find it looks even worse than it did before and he also got plaster on my bedroom floor and I can't get it off. Nice...he's supposedly coming back this coming week to put some tiles on. I'm hoping they're going to be nice, but my landlord in cheap so they're probably going to be pretty darn bland. Oh well, as long as it makes the place look nice enough that someone rents it for May 1st so I won't have to pay rent twice that month, I'll be satisfied.

...was amazed when I made it through to the provincial government's address change call center on the first try and didn't even get put on hold! Wow, now that was impressive.

...was bored by the end of the day. I don't do staying home all day very well, but in this case I didn't really have a choice.

...had a very quiet day at work, except for the Sugar Shack themed staff lunch we had.

...had way too much to eat at the Sugar Shack themed staff lunch. They always feed us amazingly well at these things and then we all spend all afternoon yawning away.

...won a package of 15 maple sugar and taffy filled cones playing a game during the aforementioned lunch and have no idea what on earth I'm going to do with all of them.

...went to an appointment after work and then out for hot chocolate with some friends at Juliette etChocolat, one of my absolute favorite places. I had a 'Framboisier' hot chocolate, which is thick, traditional style dark hot chocolate mixed with raspberry liqueur and topped with raspberry drizzle served in a martini glass. Totally worth the price :o)

...thought to myself how wonderful it is to live in a city so safe that I can walk home from the subway at 11:00 P.M. instead of waiting for the bus for 20 minutes in the freezing cold (because it went down to -13 last night here) without worrying about my safety.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Here I am, back to Skywatch Friday now that all the craziness at work is done...for now at least :o)

This week's Skywatch feature is an oldie but a goody! A shot of Rome at night from my vacation there with my Sweetheart back in 2006. I absolutely fell in love with Rome after visiting it and am hoping to be going back there soon since I know that I only saw a fraction of what the city has to offer.

Have a great weekend and don't forget check out all the other great Skywatch shots everyone has to share over here.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

...had a bit of a quieter day at work. I did lots of odds and ends, greeted a group and gave a tour to another.

...got my groceries and my pharmacy shopping done. I also got my hands on a roll of packing tape, so let the packing begin...but not before this weekend I think.

...couldn't believe it when one of my aunts suggested that I use my first ever week of paid vacation to stay home in my new apartment (because I'm not taking off until after I move) and get it all set up. Uh, how about no? I mean, we're talking paid vacation!!! I would get bored out of my mind sitting around at home all week. I'm planning on leaving in mid-May, if I'm not all set up by then it would be an alarming sign that I am incredibly lazy!!!

...found myself wondering why, every once in a while (like earlier this evening), I end up booted off of my own cable modem and linked to one of the neighbors modems? I always know when this happens because my Internet runs so slowly it almost hurts! It actually reminds me of the 'speed' of an old dial-up modem...

...made up my own dinner. Gnocchi with a white wine, salmon, mushroom, green onion and cream sauce. Yum!!! Next time I'm putting salt and pepper in it though lol

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

...tied up all the loose ends from the Novena and Feast of Saint Joseph and filed it all away.

...had data entry brain (meaning it turned to mush) by the time I finished tying up the loose ends. It took a good two hours of working in the database to enter all the groups into our system. Very dreary and monotonous work, but it had to be done!

...ordered everything we needed for a series of upcoming tours with student from low-income neighborhoods up from storage. They're tours of the Oratory based on the four elements. Special, but a nice change from regular tours. Variety is the spice of life!

...found out that I'm entitled to two weeks paid vacation!!! That may sound like nothing much, but it's the first time I've ever been entitled to paid vacation :o) I'm going to take the week between Christmas and New Year's and probably a week in May

...was most disgusted by the weather. Cold, blustery and precipitation that couldn't decide whether it was rain, snow, ice pellets or freezing rain. I wasn't able to do my groceries (umbrella+lunch bag+purse+grocery bags = no go), so hopefully the forecast for tomorrow won't change and I'll be able to go buy food then.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

...am still on a bit of a high after my concert last night. It went incredibly well and we got a long standing ovation afterward. My family and friends really enjoyed it as well and told me that the choir I'm with now is definitely a keeper :o) I'd been searching for the right one ever since leaving the one I was with in University and am glad that it only took me two tries to find the right musical fit :o)

...am looking forward to begin practicing our program for our next concert in June. The theme is going to be 'Magnificat' and this is one of the pieces we're going to be singing. It's literally one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful Ave Maria's I've ever heard. Go and have a listen, you won't be sorry!!! I wanted to post the video directly to my blog, but just couldn't figure out how to do it...

...went to lunch with my family and had a lovely time...and a lovely meal! I had veal Romano and it was definitely worth the wait (I got my meal nearly 10 minutes after everyone else did)

...nearly died laughing when my brother said that my mother liked her beef cooked rare enough that when flies flew by the meat had to swat it with its tail!!!

...enjoyed going for two more rides in brother's brand new BMW. I may never be able to afford a car like that (it costs nearly a year-and-a-half of my salary), but at least I can cruise around in one anyhow :o)

...am taking it easy for the rest of the day before going back to work tomorrow. I could use another day off, but I'm still feeling much better than I was on Friday and yesterday morning.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

...am relieved that the week was over. I love my job, but by the time I left work yesterday, I was completely worn out.

...was thrilled when I calculated how many people must have gone through the Oratory yesterday, well over 10 000, probably over 15 000.

...dragged myself to my dress rehearsal for tonight's concert and dozed in one of the church pews during our breaks.

...sang well, especially considering how tired I was.

...was in bed and out like a light within 40 minutes of getting home.

...was sick this morning, but luckily I don't seem to have a bug, I simply seem to have suffered from too much stress and not enough food over the past 24 hours. I'm feeling better now.

...will do my laundry, wash my dishes and try to talk to my poor, neglected Sweetheart before heading out to my concert. I haven't spoken to him since last weekend or written to him since early this week, probably Tuesday I think.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

...had trouble hauling myself out of bed after getting to bed at midnight last night.

...had to borrow 1$ from my colleague 'D' in order to buy my meal ticket for lunch and a banana at work.

...went nuts looking for my office keys only to find out that my colleague C had snitched them off my desk (unintentionally). She's terrible about borrowing D and I's stuff and not giving it back and forgetting her keys all over the place. We actually have a pretty good laugh about it, the three of us. I told her that she owes me chocolate big time for making me flip out like that for nothing :oJ

...found out that I got the apartment I applied for the other day and went to sign the lease. I'm most pleased and can't wait to move so I won't have to cover my front windows anymore or do battle with Magique to keep her from ripping it.

...am going to try and make it to bed for 11:00, so I'd better get a move on.

Monday, March 15, 2010

...didn't stop for one second all day after getting up...except for my one hour lunch break and the 15 minutes I took to eat dinner. No, seriously!

...didn't hear about the apartment, so hopefully that will come tomorrow.

...was so zonked out on the way to choir practice that I fell asleep on the bus. That hasn't happened to me in a while, but luckily I know the route to practice well enough that I woke up right after the stop before mine.

...am still suffering from 'Spring Forward Syndrome'. Gimme a few days and I should be over that.

...am going to mosey along to have a shower to help me unwind and will then go to bed. Goodnight!

P.S.: Please forgive me if I am lame about posting or commenting this week, but since it is the busiest week of the year at work for me and I also have my concert, I'm going to listen to my body and prioritize sleep over all else (including my much-loved blog) to avoid making any huge mistakes at work or coming down with anything that might jeopardize my being able to sing on Saturday. It's a major fear of all singers to get sick right before a concert they've been practicing for for months on end, in my case nearly six months and then have their voice crap out on them. I've been lucky on that front so far and I'd like to stay that way :o)

Sunday, March 14, 2010

...spoke with my Sweetheart for a half hour, I love how he can make me laugh without even trying.

...watched two episodes of 'The X-Files.'

...unexpectedly got to talk with my grandparents and my aunt. I wasn't expecting them to call me until Tuesday, so it was nice to get to chat with them tonight.

...enjoyed a glass of white wine with my dinner, my grandpa managed to get a bottle open for me that stayed sitting in my fridge after I failed to remove the darn rubber cork from it back in January. I find actual corks easier to remove than rubber ones.

...ended up talking on the phone with a friend who called me and eating dinner before having my shower, which I intended to do way back at about 7:00 P.M. By the time I was done on the phone with my friend though, I was way too hungry to get in the shower.

...am planning on trying my best to get to bed early to try and get over my 'Spring Forward Syndrome'. Moving the clocks forward is always way easier for me than moving them back. I don't do well when I'm ripped off of an hour's sleep.

...went to visit an apartment, liked it, applied for it and will more than likely get it! It's an inside apartment, so it had windows, but they look into a courtyard with the wall of the other side of the building just beyond it. Not much of a view, but the building is gorgeous and the apartment is lovely too. Hopefully I'll get good news tomorrow or Monday and I'll be able to move out of my current apartment the last weekend of April!

... did my laundry and vacuumed.

...spoke to my sweetheart on Skype for close to an hour, it was lovely :o) He'll more than likely come and help me move, which would be lovely :o)

...went to a St-Patrick's day sing along evening at my aunt and uncle's, it was a blast!!!

...got home at 12:45 A.M. which was technically 1:45 A.M. and only got to bed at 1:00A.M. which was technically 2:00 A.M. ...Spring forward is way more brutal than fall back I find :oJ

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Cameras Critters this week is one of a series of shots I took of Magique lying on top of the television during the women's gold medal hockey game a few weeks ago which, of course, Canada won :o) I apologize to my American readers for my blatant pride, but on top of my being very happy that our hockey team is incredibly talented, a few of its players also happen to play or to have played for McGill University, my Alma Mater :o) Anyhow, I always make a point of following the women's hockey tournament during the Olympics. I actually enjoy it more than the men's' tournament because for the women, the Olympics is the biggest tournament in their careers since they don't play in the NHL although, might I add, Kim St-Pierre, one of the goal tenders for team Canada (and McGill University) stood in for the Montreal Canadiens during one of their practices last year because both their goal tenders were out and she did an amazing job, so the guys said and they didn't hold back on her at all. But all this is beside the point, the point is: doesn't Magique look proud of our women's hockey team too? :o)

Have a great weekend and remember to make it even better by going to see all the other Camera Critters over here.

Today I...realized that I forgot to post this yesterday. So I'm doing it on Saturday morning before Camera Critters. Hey, it's my blog so I can cheat anytime I want ;o)

Today I...

...was incredibly tired. It was brutal.

...got almost everything done that I wanted to, but forgot to run something over to the Sacristies. Oh well, at least I was way ahead of the game on that one and it only needs to be done for Wednesday.

...was so tired that after eating my yogurt before heading up to the Basilica to help out the volunteers up there, I rinsed out the container and went to toss it into the recycling. I had the yogurt container in one hand and my keys for half the doors in the Oratory in the other. guess what happened? Yup, I tossed the keys into the recycling bin instead of the yogurt container. I realized it right away of course because they made a resounding clinking noise. I cried out 'Çac'est fort!!!' (translation: 'That's just great!') and promptly began laughing at myself along with two ladies from the gift shop. Fortunately, my keys hadn't fallen in too deeply and I was able to just pluck them out and toss the yogurt container in instead. You know you're tired when...

...began feeling very frustrated in my apartment search when I didn't get a call back from one building manager and another one I contacted turned out to be a scam. Then I found another one to inquire about last night and the fella who wasn't calling me back yesterday called me back this morning. So yeah, I'm feeling better all around.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

...spent a good deal of time chatting with my colleague 'J' while she printed out my seating plans for me. She's amazing, she's saving my nervous system during out ten day event by scanning my color-coded seating plans on her scanner and printing them out on her color printer. You have no idea how much time and stress she's saving me from, she's an angel :o)

...began feeling discouraged over my apartment hunt. The manager of the apartment buildings near the Oratory is being very reluctant regarding my cats and so if the manager of another building I'm hoping to visit tomorrow. I don't understand people who will allow birds in their apartment buildings but not cats. If I had to choose between having cats or birds living next door to me, I'd pick the cat, birds are way noisier!!!

I'm a bit late posting this, sorry...it's crazy at work this week and I had an appointment to go to after work.

So, it's March 11th today as you all know. Here in Montreal we hardly have any snow left at all and I actually saw some flowers (tulips and daffodils, I assume) beginning to poke through the ground near work today. I couldn't believe it. However, just to prove to you that this certainly doesn't happen every year, I figured I would use the above picture as this week's Skywatch feature. It's the house across the street from my mother's house two years ago...on March 9th, 2008. Or at least what you can see of the house. The winter of 2008 was brutal in Quebec, we got massive 30 cm+ snowstorms from mid-December right through to this last one in March. I kid you not...the snow depots were full, 80% of the population suffered from winter-induced depression and the snow in depots was still around in June. I think the last of it melted away closer to July. I kid you not...So yeah, no one is complaining about the mild, almost friendly winter we got this year. Now, if only we could get a really nice summer, we haven't had one of those since 2007. I kid you not ;o)

I hop you all enjoy your weekend, be sure and start it off on the right foot by going to check out all the amazing skies out there over here.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

...am sharing a picture of one of the stained glass windows from the Oratory's Basilica with you, and more specifically with Gill. She's one of my most faithful blog readers and commenters, so I couldn't very well ignore her request for more pictures of the Basilica. Thanks for stopping by so often Gill :o)

...had an incredibly busy day at work.

...discovered that breathing in incense for long periods of time will give me a headache, one that is fortunately relieved by an equal intake of fresh air though.

...was happy to work with one of my oldest tour guide friends. We hadn't seen each other since January when we had a party at his place, so it was nice to be able to sit and chat with him for the last 20 minutes of my lunch break.

...was disgruntled when one of my grandmothers and one of my aunts got on my case over my wanting to rent an apartment near work. I told my grandmother about it yesterday over the phone because I was very enthused about the neighborhood and being so close to everything I need and she was happy about it too...until she drove through the neighborhood today with my aunt and my aunt didn't like it for a bunch of reasons. I answered her e-mail on the subject politely and thanked her for her concern and input, but I still felt bad about it. Nothing like having something you like or love get burned in effigy by someone you care about.

...was most disgusted when, this evening, that *&&?%$#&(*&%% neighborhood cat showed up at my BEDROOM WINDOW!!! Ugh, that blasted creature is UNSTOPPABLE!!!!

...am very much looking forward to watching CSI New York. I've been thinking about it all day! I love that show and missed being able to watch it during the Olympics.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

...am sharing a photo of the Basilica at the Oratory. This in the spirit of our Novena leading up to the Feast of St-Joseph which is starting tomorrow. It's pretty much the busiest time of the year for us, it sure is for me anyhow since I pretty much make the whole thing roll smoothly! The Basilica will be pretty much full every afternoon at 2:00 P.M. for the next 10 days and will be full pretty much all day on 19th...all 1,870 seats :o)

...was incredibly busy at work and would have loved to be able to take my breaks, but couldn't. I'll try for it again tomorrow, but won't get my hopes up too much lol

...finally got to talk to my Sweetheart. He had a fun weekend, including a surprise Birthday Party for his friend that ran from 5:00 P.M. on Saturday...to 5:00 A.M. on Sunday. He's still trying to recover from it, I think it might take him a while. I miss him though, I wish I could go and see him, but it might be a while until I can do that, at least a month I think, probably a bit more. Hopefully I'll get to see him when he comes to visit at Easter.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

...had a more easygoing day than yesterday. No apartment visits, although the pushy building manager from yesterday did call back willing to bargain with me. I spoke with my dad and our answer is still going to be 'no' though. The place is just a bit too pricey, especially since I won't be 100% sure how much my net salary is for when I move for at least another month. I have a pretty good idea what it's going to be since my dad calculated yesterday that I get about 20% of my monthly pay deducted, but that may go up a bit when I'm through my probationary period in mid-April. Best not to take anything that might leave me tight.

...went for a visit to the spa and then for a belated birthday lunch for me with my mom and my brother. It was very yummy and I even got a slice of Key Lime pie with a sparkler in it for dessert.

...had to put wrapping paper up to cover the rest of my front windows (meaning all the way to the top) after that damned cat came back and stood up on her hind legs to see into my apartment. Magique had a fit. I therefore had to open a second roll of wrapping paper and use up the last of my scotch tape to paper the rest of windows. I hate having to use wrapping paper like this, especially since it's lovely paper, but I don't have a choice. I'll see if I can find another solution this week, especially since Magique ripped some of the new paper and tore down the making tape I put up there to hold it on. Then I had a fit and yelled at her and locked her in my bedroom. Yup, definitely need to find a better way to cover my windows. God, please help keep me sane until I move...

...went for a second visit to that apartment that I love so much with my dad, but found out that the rent was going to go up 20$ as of September. I came back home with my dad who is one of the best accountants out there (no, seriously!) and we went over my budget. I could have afforded the apartment, but I might have felt tight every now and then and I've had quite enough of that so I had to let it go.

...went to see another apartment with my dad. It was a first floor 3& a half with a balcony, but the balcony was completely hidden behind some scraggly, overgrown cedars. It was also facing west, so it wouldn't have gotten much sun and I'm big on having lots of sun in my apartment. That's one of the only things I like about my current place, actually, is that it gets sun pretty much all day. Anyhow, bottom line is that the place was only free as of July 1st anyhow and my landlord won't extend my lease because he has people interested in my place for June 1st. Back to the drawing board!

...went for a long walk to get cat food and a few things are the grocery store...and splurged on a apricot danish from a local bakery :o) The weather was lovely and the danish was divine, so all in all, it was a nice end to the day.

...did my laundry.

...watched a movie, which is probably what entailed my forgetting to post. Sorry!

Saturday, March 6, 2010

This week's camera critter is one of the many, many butterflies I snapped a picture of while at the annual 'Butterflies Go Free' exhibit at Montreal's Botanical Gardens. They let literally thousands of butterflies free in their biggest greenhouse and we can go and fest our eyes on them from mid-February to mid-April. Some species come back year after year, but this year there were a few that I had never seen before, namely the on this photo. Enlarge it, it's definitely worth it :o)

Have a great weekend and don't forget to check out all the other camera critters that can be found over here

Friday, March 5, 2010

...am sharing a photo of my newest office orchid with you. I bought it for myself for my birthday two weeks ago and it has been enjoying my sun-filled windowsill ever since. My other office orchid which I got myself for my birthday two years ago is also loving its new home, it's sprouting two new stems!!!

...was majorly grouchy and disgruntled for half the day over the whole cat situation at my place and also over getting screwed over for that apartment I wanted. I perked up after lunch though and felt even better after getting a call telling me that I have an appointment at noon tomorrow with a guy at the apartment building. He wants to meet me and go over some things before continuing with my application process, so hopefully that's a good sign. I'll be going with my dad, which is great because he'll be able to set me straight with anything I might understand and I'll also feel less intimidated if they're not happy with something in my application, That might be, because I am applying for an apartment with rent about 160$ higher than what I'm paying now...and I work at a church. I can see how that might make them wonder how financially viable I am, but what can I say? I got a raise. That's what happens when you go from being an 'on call' employee (who was working full time) to a 'permanent' employee (who still works full time).

...cleaned my fish tank.

...found out that someone if going to come and visit my apartment tomorrow at 5:00 P.M. Boy, I can't wait to see their reaction when they see the dilapidated hallway and the run down laundry room and the plywood door frame around my apartment door, not to mention my shower that was never completely finished. Yup, the place looks just like it does in the ad on Craigslist. YEAH RIGHT!!! Run away, potential renter, run away now and find something that's actually worth the rent my landlord is asking for.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

...kept plugging along with my Novena stuff. It's getting done, slowly but steadily. I'm actually ahead this year since I'm already doing my reservation signs for the seating in the Basilica. This will help me concentrate on the seating plans next week.

...developed a blazing migraine in the afternoon that stuck with me the rest of the day and into the evening. I imagine I'll have to go to bed to get rid of it.

...went to visit that I apartment I posted about yesterday and loved it. I filled out an application for it, as did, apparently, a couple who came in to visit the place while I was filling out my application.

...had this post all ready, but ended up not posting it.

Today I...March 5th

...made yet more headway on my Novena stuff. It's getting there, but I'm going to get to the really bulky stuff tomorrow. Not looking forward to it.

...had to clean up a mistake that 'C' made. She booked a group for the wrong day during the Novena. She put them down for the 12th when they were actually coming on the 14th. Luckily the organizer called to say she was bringing a second bus so we found the mistake, but she's notorious in our department for talking a lot, so I had her on the line for a while talking about how disappointed she was about the mistake, how we absolutely HAD to have a movie about Brother Andre playing on a loop because he's going to be canonized and some people in her group absolutely DEMANDED to see the movie. I told her we would do our best, but that we might not have a room available to play the movie in, but she just didn't seem able to understand that. At least I tried and now she won't be able to say I didn't warn her ;o)

...was and still am majorly miffed when a woman from the rental agency for the apartment I applied for yesterday called and mistook me for the girlfriend of the other applicant. This woman somehow got our applications mixed up and put the couple's through first when I visited the apartment before them and handed in my application before they did. The apartment was supposedly rented before them, but when the building's owner found out about the mix up he called me and tried to offer me two other apartments, one that was available immediately and another that was available for July 1st, neither of which work out for me because I would either have to break my lease (would cost a fortune), get someone to take over my lease (fat chance since I wouldn't even rent this place to someone I disliked and no one in their right mind would rent it anyhow, unless they're really desperate), or would have to get an extension on my lease (yeah, like I want to stay here any longer than I absolutely have to). So, the last I heard the owner of the apartment building I'm hoping to rent in was going to try and get the couple to rent one of the other two apartments or try and see if the tenants in the apartment that's free for July 1st would be willing to move for June 1st instead. I haven't heard back yet, so I'll have to wait and see and hope that maybe he left a message at my office after I left.

...was disgusted when that annoying cat turned up in front of my apartment window again tonight. I went out there and put down the mothball flakes I wanted to avoid using and she came back AGAIN, my cats got in a fight after trying to attack her through the window and I wanted to cry with frustration and call that rental office to leave a message to tell them I'd take that apartment for immediate occupancy after all. Then I remembered that I have lots of wrapping paper leftover from Christmas. I'm going to take some and tape it over 75% of my front window to block the view out for my cats. Really sad for them because they like looking out there so much, but I can't handle them fighting and waking me up in the middle of the night losing it over some cat whose owners are too dumb to keep inside at night. I mean seriously, I don't know why people still let their cats out at night? Aren't they worried, like I am, that their pet might get attacked by a dog, hit by a car, stolen or caught and tortured by some sicko? Not to mention the bad name they give the general feline population when they tear up garbage bags and leave a mess behind or dig up peoples' gardens. I just can't figure it out. Apologies to anyone who has an outdoor cat and read my blog by the way. I hope it's not your cat that comes and hangs out in front of my window and I hope he or she doesn't make anyone as miserable as this cat and its owners make me.

My Skywatch feature this week is another photo from my week in Toronto last month. I love the way the trees and blue sky looked with the new City Hall, so I couldn't help but take this photo and I hope you all enjoy it too!

Have a great weekend and remember to check out all the other Skywatch photos over here.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

...was pretty tired. I didn't get much sleep last night because a pesky cat spent a good part of the night wandering around in front of my living room window driving my cats nuts. They were hissing and growling and jumping on the window trying to get at the darn cat on the other side. I bought some animal repellent granules at the pet supply store on the way home that are supposed to be pretty good, so hopefully they'll do the trick, otherwise it's back to mothball pellets.

...had a pretty busy day at work, but I'm getting ahead on stuff for the feast of St-Joseph, so that's good, I'll be under a lot less pressure when the celebrations surrounding it get started next week.

...found an apartment that just might do the trick for me, I'm going to go and visit it tomorrow night.

...spoke with my Sweetheart on Skype for a bit, but he wasn't super chatty. He hadn't eaten dinner yet and his focus when he's hungry is definitely not the greatest, which is normal. We're going to try very hard to see each other during his visit this weekend, but it doesn't look very promising right now, so I'm kinda disappointed, but not giving up hope yet.

Monday, March 1, 2010

...was pretty tired after staying up late to watch the closing ceremonies of the Olympics. It had high points and low points, overall I'd give them 3.5 stars out of 5.

...had a relatively quiet day at work, it's only ever just 'C' and I on Mondays because 'D' follows a Tuesday to Saturday schedule and therefore has Sundays and Mondays off.

...was late to choir practice because I had to pick cat food up on the home from work. I forgot to do it yesterday and didn't have enough left for both my kitties tonight, so I really had no choice, otherwise there may have been anarchy on the home front.

...had a good choir practice, although I'm stuck next to that singer who gets on my nerves. Apparently our voices blend well. Darn...I'll see what happens if I try to scoot away from her next session, maybe it won't mess with the choir's Fengshui too much ;o)